History of Building
The idea to set up a kindergarten in Buonconvento child matured as a result of the election as bishop of Montepulciano Monsignor Joseph Battignani, former parish priest of the place, which, becoming promoter of the initiative, convened on January 19, 1899 in a Town Hall meeting of exponents of the most wealthy city community.
Asylum should lie on the premises of an old building in the town centre by the same bishop, which was donated for the occasion; financed deals with population and personal use as some of the religious congregation of sisters of the Poor.
To examine the problem of home, after several years used to raise the necessary funds through various activities including exhibitions many charities, May 21, 1903 was established a commission made up of technicians place which was part of the Sienese architect Bettino Marchetti , which on 12 December 1901 had prepared two draft free mass.
On 22 January 1905 the Commission, not considered suitable premises offered by the bishop, was expressed for the construction from scratch of a building that was "responsive to the needs of hygiene and teaching", entrusted the design all'arch. Marchetti. Meanwhile, the Committee had received the Promoter signers of the local Society of Mutual Aid among workers of the Society of mutual aid among women, the Consumer Cooperative and all other associations village and finally with Royal Decree of April 1 1906, the association was built in Moral Authority.
Marchetti The new project was approved by the Governing Council on November 11 of that year and by the Office of Civil Engineers and the Ministry of Education in 1907. Referring to the provisions of the Law on November 25, 1900, the building was high on two levels above the earth., Designed for 120 children with two classrooms of 60 seats each, a refectory and a central hall, and made provision for possible expansions in function to a maximum rate of 180 children. Expected on land of about 1500 square meters., Of which 540 square meters. For the building and 960 square meters. Areas for gym discovery, asylum would require an initial expenditure of 31,279 lire, covered in part * of government subsidy of 10,000 lire, obtained through the assistance of Deputies adv. Arturo Pilacci and Count Giovacchino Bastogi. The structure was made of masonry mixed in brick and stone, with a volticine slabs and beams, ceiling and roof of spruce wood and tile floors of cement to two colors. Fasce and frames decorated brick would face the main.
The land required for the building, located outside the town centre on Provincial Road Romana, was offered by the spouses Lattanzio and Settimia Marri Mignanelli and accepted by the Governing Council on 11 March 1908, the deed of gift was extended Third Grossi 11 June 1908.
The construction work after two races to go private tendering deserted, were tendered by resolution of the Governing Council of 12 October 1908, the firm Fineschi Martino di Siena, for a net amount of £. 32,443 and a maximum period for the completion of the set at two years.
Consegnati work on 22 November 1908, the laying of the first stone took place on December 6 of that year, celebrated with a banquet offered by the Company worker and celebrated among other interventions by the bishop Battignani and deputy Pilacci.
The works, which were supposed to benefit from donations of building materials (sand, stones and bricks) from the owners of the area - in fact only minimally effected - were interrupted by the earthquake of 25 August 1909, when the walls are already elevavano approximately 2 metres, after the event, the proposed Marchetti, September 5, 1909, some structural variants, including the creation of perimeter walls entirely in blocks.
In November 1910 the building was covered, in January following the designer propose other works not provided, approved by the Governing Council with the sole exception of the heating system, in May 1911 settled to decorate the central hall, entrusting the implementation frescoes of the Prime Lavagnini painter who concluded in December 1911 at a fee of 485 dollars. The skirtings and columns were painted by William Valentini of Siena and paid 270 dollars. The external cancelled, resulting in part from a recovery of the contractor company, was completed by Franci Pasquale di Siena, the water plant was built by the company Bratto Martino di Siena, cast iron balustrades provided by the company Raphael Cortigiani, even Siena, while Francis Furi Buonconvento performed carpentry work. All works were completed on 19 October 1911 and behaved a total expenditure of 43,000 lire. The honorary by. Marchetti, estimated at 1,500 lire, ammontò to 3,808 lire, but because of scarce economic resources dell'Ente was never completely cleared. Even after the difficulty of finding the necessary funds to furnish and for the compensation of personnel, and intervened to differences of political management - one that may be secular or religious - asylum was opened only on 13 June 1915, entering depending on the day with 52 children and only one teacher. Thanks to subsidies of government, the asylum worked until 1921, but on July 31 the following year, due to the drastic reduction in frequencies, was closed and staff laid off.
On 26 November 1923 was reopened and entrusted to the Sisters of Our Lady of Carmel, who will manage until 1972, when the situation became unsustainable economic dell'Ente moral, was sold to the town that opened three sections of nursery school. The property is owned past of the town on March 9, 1983, with the extinction dell'Ente moral founder.
Description of Building
The value of the building, from the modest frame landscape architectural influence liberty in the province of Siena and to be connected to the recent rediscovery of architectural production of the century in different local realities, was recognized thanks to the attention and study of Letizia and Franchina Superintendent of the architectural heritage of Siena and Grossetto, which has cared for an exhibition. The building is located just outside the oldest in the country, along the way Dante Alighieri that runs parallel to the Via Cassia in south and the surrounding housing consists predominantly of residential buildings, most buildings and houses interspersed with small gardens. Entirely made of brick masonry in sight, the building stands in the centre of a vast plot not placed on the garden, separated from the street by a wrought iron cleared.
The Facade
The main facade, still nineteenth matrix, spread over two floors above ground and is shaped in a more advanced central body, framed by two thick pilasters and marked by three arches on the ground floor, with two lateral wings Open by one arched windows in the middle. The pace of openings is repeated identically on the first floor, highlighted by a frame to marcapiano stamps that once again, more full-bodied and jutting, as the crowning cornice above. The skilful weaving around the wall openings - backward compared to wire wall - and level of the arches - which develops a continuous horizontal frame - creates a feeling of movement that partly redeems the perfectly symmetrical and monumental prospectus. These arrangements compositional not find themselves in the side facades and rückpositif on which the hanging takes place in brick continuous and uniform, marked by arched windows.
The Interior
Inside, after a small atrium entrance preceded by a short flight of steps outside, the building is divided around the vast central hall, high over 7 m. And marked by the presence of a wall of the gallery entrance, framed by two pillars and supported by two columns tuscaniche painted in faux marble. On the wall, three large openings, in line with the facade of arches, communicate with a garden and, along with three rectangular windows above, add to the already bright light compartment with a large skylight raised in the middle of the ceiling in wood. On the side walls are opened the four doors of communication with the classrooms, also with wooden ceiling and floor tiles original cement octagonal red alive. In the living room, the floor is richer for the band perimeter in a checkerboard tiles with red and white tiles in black profiling.
At simplicity Natural distribution and passed a gangway episode formal opposes the lively paintings of clear matrix liberty by the Sienese painter Prime Lavagnini, running with a wide band on the upper part of the walls and that is ultimately the only significant feature of: For reasons of peacocks and roses twisted, painted in bright colors on the bottom ochre, alternate puttini variously atteggiati Guiding folders with mottoes moral addressed both to children that teachers ( "Be good", "Be happy" , "parents Love," "Love the country, love God," "Educating is love," and so on), chosen by the bishop Battignani a rich selection trafficking, among others, by Plato, Leibniz, Cicero.
More traditional decorative motifs are short on the sides of the shaft skylight, where it's the emblem of Buonconvento with the lion rampant within a serto green on a red, enriched by svolazzanti purple ribbons. The skirtings is decorated with fake marble panels, signed by William Valentini, concluding with a thin strip striped gold and red. Conceived and still used as a nursery school, the ground floor has suffered few of the changes, particularly related to the need for modernization of facilities and sanitation, and the first floor of the body on the other side of the facade, composed of four rooms and can be reached through scale travertine two ramps placed to the right of the shaft entrance, is now used only in part as a school dance.

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